Gibson, 22, would replace righthander Jeff Manship, who is being promoted to the Twins again with lefthander Jose Mijares headed to the disabled list with a strained right knee.

Though this would put Gibson one step away from the big leagues, that's probably as far as he'll go this year. Rantz said the Twins want to cap his workload at 150-160 innings. Gibson has thrown 136 1/3 innings between Class A and Class AA this year, so Rochester would be his final stop.

"I'm sending him up there thinking it's probably going to be for the remainder of the year," Rantz said.

Gibson went 4-1 with a 1.87 ERA for Class A Fort Myers before going 7-5 with a 3.68 ERA for Class AA New Britain, where he had 77 strikeouts and 22 walks.

BLACKBURN PLAN

Nick Blackburn will make his third start for Class AAA Rochester tonight and then return home to be with his wife, Alicia, who is expecting the couple's first child.

Blackburn has posted a 1.59 ERA in his first two starts for Rochester. The Twins expect him to be a factor in September, if not late-August.

FIRST ROUNDERS BANGED UP

* Aaron Hicks, the Twins' 2008 first-round draft pick, has been out since Aug. 8 with a broken pinky. Hicks, who is batting .278 for Class A Beloit, has not been placed on the DL. Hicks can do everything except swing a bat, and the Twins don't expect him to miss much more than a week.

* Ben Revere, the Twins' 2007 first-round pick, is making good progress in his recovery from an Aug. 3 beaning near his right eye. Revere suffered two orbital fractures, and is expected to miss the rest of New Britain's season. There is hope, however, that Revere will be ready to play this offseason, perhaps in the Arizona Fall League. He batted .297 for New Britain.